Shared interests

Managers, it has been said, cannot read anything longer than two pages while academics cannot write anything less than 5,000 words (Wistow 2001). This and other myths help to perpetuate the divide between NHS and higher education institutions (HEIs), which often leads them to set their own agendas without collaborating with each other. However, while a lack of engagement by some managers and academics indicates that there may be some truth to this particular myth, there are increasingly clear examples of good practice, where academics write clearly succinctly, and managers use academic papers to aid collaboration.